New stadium to be proposed for Buffalo

Posted by Mike Florio on October 23, 2012, 8:43 AM EST

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At a time when the Bills and the powers-that-be in Erie County and the state of New York are trying to hammer out a long-term lease that would keep the team in its current stadium well into the future, the possibility of a new downtown stadium has landed on the outer reaches of the radar screen.

On Tuesday, a proposal will be made to the Buffalo city council’s Community Development Committee that would replace Ralph Wilson Stadium with a mixed-use facility. The new venue possibly include a Super Bowl bid for Western New York.

According to the Buffalo News, the folks supporting the project have yet to line up support from the NFL, the Bills, or the various public bodies that would have to buy in, via a breaking of the taxpayer piggy bank. But this could be the kind of creativity necessary to secure the future of the franchise in Buffalo.

34 responses to “New stadium to be proposed for Buffalo”

A little overeboard with the 1.4 Billion (with a B) when they could build something like Heinz Field for a quarter of the price or like Lucas Oil Field for half.
Also, when the designer was asked about parking he blew it off. Parking at that location would be ri-dic-u-lous. They would have to build a trolly system to bring people in from other locations (like the Sabres have right next to the arena)

The Bills are staying in Buffalo, where they belong. Anyone who has said Bills to L.A. or Canada was way off the mark. There is too much love for the Buffalo Bills from their fans to walk away. Go Bills!!!! #BillsMafia

I can’t imagine an indoor Buffalo game. I know it would have to be a dome to make a super bowl bid but what about Met Life Stadium? Money shouldn’t be too much of an issue, being the only team who plays in New York.

The “trolly” system you refer to that brings people to Sabres game would be able to service the new stadium as well. They may need to expand it a little further just to decrease walking, but it already goes from the northern Buffalo city limits near the town of Amherst. With the revitalization of the waterfront already in full swing, this stadium would be absolutely perfect.

I think it’s a great idea!! I also agree the “B word” needs to be scaled down. Buffalo isn’t Dallas. We don’t need a temple to the football gods. A well designed, well built, and functional venue works just fine for us.

I’m a Patriots fan, but I hope that Buffalo does/gets whatever is necessary to keep the Bills “in town.” Kill the Buffalo jokes and take the time (people) to find all the great stuff that is available in and nearby the Buffalo area. Put the pressure on the folks in Albany to do something. Bill are the only NFL team in the state for gosh sakes!!!

This will not pass if the price tag is over $1 Billion. First off, you have the Cowboys Stadium and MetLife Stadium that cost just over $1 Billion, and have fans that will pay $25,000-$50,000 for a (yes, one) PSL! You are not going to get people to pay that kind of money in Buffalo. The PSL’s for this stadium would have to be incredibly high to pay for it.

You have great stadiums in Cleveland, Pitt, NE, that cost about a half to a quarter less than the price tag on this stadium proposal. Not going to happen, unless they scale it down.

-First off we have to get a football team to play in it! Hopefully the current team will be gone to some other loserville.

-And how would Windsor (4 hours away from Buffalo) benefit? Learn to read a map! But Fort Erie and it’s special “Canadian Ballet” bars would definitely benefit, those girls are good.

-Just wait for the Buffalo preservationists to start howling. They won’t want a massive stadium on the waterfront, they only want small shops that go out of business every other year. They didn’t even want a Bass Pro Shop down there.

Alright, this has been thrown around before, but to be honest, it would never work. Let me ask everybody, who here has been to a Sabres game? Anybody? Ok, sure, parking will be an issue, regardless how will you traffic in, and out, 80,000 fans? Have fun sitting in traffic for 3-5 hours, no matter where you park. People may not agree, but what I do gives me a unique perspective on this. Also, there is already a plan in place to demolish the skyway, while I am all for it, this parkway they suggested will just make it that much more difficult to accomadate the pure volume of cars. At this time, donwtown Buffalo on the waterfront is just not a viable location for a stadium, maybe in another 5-7 years, but not now. Leaving the stadium where it is at is ideal, you are minutes away from the 3 largest thru-ways in our area, it’s county Sherrifs and not BPO directing traffic (I appreciate all of your services, except traffic control.) And all parking is within walking distance to the game. You would be hard pressed to find a great tailgating spot if it were to be moved downtown. Just my two cents.

not happening reality is they are leaving . People in buffalo will not pony up the money for psls plus a new stadium would mean huge price increase thus turning the price of 1 one of the cheapest tickets to a nfl game into a top 5 or 10

Can people please grasp the concept that where they are talking about building this stadium, and the type of stadium it is going to be is why it will cost over $1 billion. It’s not some 200 acre vacant lot, it’s a slightly developed area that is right on the waterfront. If you want to get into stadium costs, your going to be looking at about 2/3’s that, the rest is for demolishing and re-shaping the surrounding area. It’s like the people complaing about Pegula’s project downtown because it is going to provide even less parking. Um, if you are familiar with reading, you would know they are adding an additional 450-500 spaces to that block with a parking garage. Also, as to the Superbowl comment, where the Bills are now is another reason re-building there is ideal. Where do people stay when they come for the Superbowl? There is no where downtown that can offer that kind volume, and you are still only 20 minutes away from the border in Orchard park, and if it’s February, it’s a short trip to Kissing Bridge and Holliday Valley.

Sorry, ignorance needs to be punished. They are proposing a stadium with a retractable roof. Instead of comparing it to the Superbowl that will be hosted at MetLife, it will be more like the Superbowl hosted at the Metrodome. Sorry if thats a bit beyond your years, but there is this thing called “Google”, give it a shot.

This can at least start a long awaited discussion about a mixed use facility. The idea is to have the convention center revenues offset the expense. It makes no sense to plow $220M into an aging facility for a 10-15 year lease. Plus a retractable roof would allow the Bills to sell out the place for all the games.

According to the Buffalo News, the folks supporting the project have yet to line up support from the NFL, the Bills, or the various public bodies that would have to buy in, via a breaking of the taxpayer piggy bank.
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In other words, it’s merely an empty dream.

I think it’s despicable even posting a non story like this, trying to get Bills fans hope up over something with no substance at all.

Here’s what will happen. The Bills will threaten to move to LA, or rumors will start that the Bills are considering moving to LA. The new Buffalo stadium will get built. Then the next team needing a stadium will use the same method to extort their city to fund a large portion of the new stadium.

This is why LA will never get a team. The threat of moving to LA assists all teams in extorting money from their current municipalities. The NFL knows/fosters this idea.

the fact is that to fill our stadium of 72,000 we need 1/3 of the current Buffalo population to show up. We do until we are largely irrelevant, the best thing is build near the Falls a 300-500 million dollar Heinz stadium esque field, or Lucas Oil. Change capacity to 60,000 and we’ll sell out and bring in corporate suites from Hamilton and Toronto.

A multi-Use facility is a great Idea, if the Bills stay in Buffalo. I am not sure that the League takes a small market team like the Bills seriously and would have no problem having the franchise moved from Western New York to a place more profitable.
I fail to mention the Packers, due to Community Ownership, althought I’m sure the League would try to move that team if they could

the fact is that to fill our stadium of 72,000 we need 1/3 of the current Buffalo population to show up. We do until we are largely irrelevant, the best thing is build near the Falls a 300-500 million dollar Heinz stadium esque field, or Lucas Oil. Change capacity to 60,000 and we’ll sell out and bring in corporate suites from Hamilton and Toronto.

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@pftbillsfan,
When you’re talking about the population of Buffalo, the problem is you’re talking about only about Buffalo, and not Erie County. Buffalo itself holds about 25% of the population in the DMA. There has been a huge suburbanization in Buffalo and in the Buffalo-Niagara region there are approx. 1 million people. The Rochester/Monroe County area has also 1 million. That puts 2 million people (excluding Canadians) within a reasonable distance from this new stadium.

For anyone who thinks this isn’t a good location in the Buffalo area… what exactly is your basis? Parking and traffic!? REALLY? Buffalo has a highway system that stems from the 50’s as one of the largest and comprehensive highway systems of its time and to this day has room for expansion. If 60,000 cars can travel with ease to get to work every day, how will it be a problem for 70,000 to get to the stadium? Extend the metro rail/subway line about 1,000 feet and you’re golden. Build a few large ramps and there you go. Along with that, the stadium will double as a major convention center, with surrounding hotels. This is an excellent boon for Buffalo and the WNY region. It will be a gateway for a new district downtown, close the First Niagara Center and Coca~Cola Field. Let’s get this rolling!